Author's Notes-- ( 10:20 PM 1/21/03 ) Well, this part is pretty simple. Some school humour and a bit more character development. In this chapter, we also find out the reason why Ran's not with us at this moment. I'm also sorry that I turned Aya into a bitch. u_u It's just... Yea. I don't really like this chapter, except for the conversation between Brad and Schuldig. This is really kind of giving you an idea of what Ken's days will be like, so I won't have to go type summaries of every single class period Ken has in the future.
You guys are so great for reviewing my fic! Thank you so much; check the end of the chapter for responses! ^_^
Disclaimer-- The thought of me owning Weiss Kreuz makes me want to dance. I don't see me dancing anywhere, anytime soon. I also do not own "Somewhat Damaged" by NIN, nor do I own Trent Reznor or the band.
Warnings-- Language, Silliness, Shounen ai (mentions: SchuxBrad, NagixOmi, KasexKen), OOC (Aya-chan)
//blah// -- Thoughts (ex: //What should I say, now?//)
"blah" -- Dialogue (ex: "Your mom.")
„blah" -- Visably Foreign Dialogue (ex: „Wie ghet's?")
* * * * *
Somewhat Damaged * Seph Lorraine
Act I: Scene II: Detention
* * * * *
Omi had been correct about finding Ken's classes. All of his assigned rooms were always the second door on the right of the hall in which those particular types classes were held (English wing, Maths wing, Foreign Language wing, etc). A very easy schedule, but difficult to make his way to the correct building, through entire mobs of students, and to his classes on time.
Religion and Economics had meant nothing to Ken. The teacher, even though he was obviously of Japanese origin, himself, knew of no ways to communicate with the brunett, and ended up just ignoring him. Ken had thought he caught a string of English curses (all of which he understood, of course) [1] and some foreign words like "I'm not paid enough for this." Though, he simply chose to ignore them.
There were very few things during the class that he could understand. The students appeared to be learning about the Buddhist religion at the moment, as Ken saw in the large pictures that seem to litter the pages of the present chapter in his textbook. He wasn't Buddhist, but he already knew a lot about the particular religion, as many of the people he had once known had been.
//Except for him. He always thought religion was a lot of nonsense...//
The brunett snapped out of it, shaking his head quickly. He couldn't risk thinking of such things during a class.
There was a light giggling from the behind him, and the Japanese boy, peeked behind him at a group of girls sitting diagonally behind him. Two blonds and a redhead, with their jackets off and white sleeves, rolled up to three-quarters length. The redhead was busy writing, "Becca + Todd = 4EvEr!" and an assortment of hearts, in white out pen on the front of a mahogany binder. The two blonds, though, had their attention locked on him.
He was beginning to turn back to the front of the room when the girl whispered something, he couldn't understand. She gave him a seductive smile as the words rolled from her cherry-red lips, "You don't speak much English, do you?"
Her accent was somewhat flat, with a bit of a drawl. It was one that he had associated with the southern United States, having once had a foreign teacher from the state of Georgia, teaching him German in his previous school years. He blinked as she said the words, his mind picking at the pieces of the sentence, and tackling words he understood: 'You', 'English', and 'you' being the only ones known to him. That didn't help him very much.
His mind struggled, looking for an answer to the question she had asked, and his mind undoubtedly came up with the only answer possible. He smiled brightly, "Yes!"
The two blonds burst into giggles, and the redhead looked up, rolling her eyes and blowing a large pink bubble with her gum.
"Oh really?" The second blond spoke, her voice tainted by that same accent.
"You'll have to come talk with us sometime..." The first smiled, "You can meet my boyfriend-- he just loves to beat foreigners."
They both began to giggle, and the redhead shared a light chuckle, before turning back to her drawing.
Ken searched for something to say in response, still not understanding what was being spoken to him, "I am no understanding your say." He managed to get the words out, wondering if anything out of his mouth had just made sense to them; it had meant nothing to him.
The redhead smiled, looking up at the Japanese boy again, "Konnichiwa, baka." [trans: "Good afternoon, idiot."] She spoke in an American accent slightly different to the two blonds, but her voice made the words sound ugly... And they were.
The brunett understood what their meaning towards him was, now. He put on a smug smile, and spoke simply, „Busu teme yarukika. Shitsukoi naa." [trans: "Are you trying to piss me off, bitch? That's annoying."]
The three girls blinked, as well as the rest of the class, now caught up in observing this interaction. No one had heard the new-kid say hardly anything; and even though they couldn't understand what he said, his physical appearance and tone of voice gave it away, fully, that he was angry. His left eyebrow seemed to be twitching lightly, and his teeth and hands were clenched. He was almost ripping the silver earring out of his own ear.
"Mr. Hidaka!"
Ken turned to look at the frowning face of Mr. S Takatori (he wondered about that 'S'), only to be handed a small pink slip, with some scratchy inillegible writing. "Nan des--er--What?"
"Detention." The teacher spoke, "For disrupting my class."
Detention, as Ken knew it, was a universal word, with a universal meaning; nevermind that he didn't comprehend exactly why he had gotten it. His jaw dropped, and he practically began to seethe in anger, „Demo..!" [trans: "But...!"] He pointed at the girls, all three of which were now twirling pencils, their noses stuck into textbooks.
Ken now loathed his first period class.
Ms. Manx, or just "Manx", as the students called her, was a pretty odd woman. She had very nice hair, though. AP German III was, seemingly, behind him in his studies of the language. Though, it was not surprising, as he had been taking the language since his third school year in Japan.
His class was the kind that never paid attention, and therefor, Manx seemed to have given up on the task of teaching long ago. //Great... I've gotten detention on the first day. So my chi is trying to make it up to me by giving me a nap period? Joy.//
The tower bells had rung quite loudly at the end of second period, signaling lunch-break to one third of the school's population. Hundreds of students pushed their way through the doorways into the commons, and various other places around campus, to either their third period or lunch. Omi had told the brunett earlier that they shared the same lunch period, so the Japanese boy wasn't surprised to see the blond at the same table waving him over as he had earlier that morning.
This time, though, there was someone else at the table. A brown-haired freshman with large eyes, quite like Omi.
Ken made his way to the table, stumbling only lightly over a chair leg or two on his way, and semi-bowed before taking a seat. "Good afternoon, Omi."
Omi smiled brightly and nodded, "Yea. How was your first day here?"
The brunett was quickly adapting to the knowledge that he would never, no matter how hard he tried, understand what Omi was saying to him. Instead, he just pulled out his detention slip from earlier. Maybe that would answer his question.
Two large blue eyes became even larger as they scanned the pink slip, "Damn, Ken! How did you managed that!? Detention on your first day!?" Just before he was about to leave Ken with a question he would not be able to answer, he remembered the small brunett sitting beside him. "Oh, yea! Ken, this is Nagi!"
The Japanese boy turned to the small brunett and nodded, "It is nice to meet you, Nagi."
"You're Ken?" The freshman disregarded the greeting, and stared at the sophmore with examining eyes. "I have heard that you don't speak any English. Is that correct?"
"Ano..." Ken blinked. The kid was asking him something.
Omi hit the smaller brunett quickly, "How do you expect him to answer if he didn't understand what it was you just said?"
"His silence will suffice." Nagi's eyes blinked with apathy, and he turned to his blond friend, smiling a bit, "What about you and me in the locker room?"
The blond made a small squeaking noise and frowned, "Not right now, Nagi!"
"C'mon! No one will be in there. We'll have plenty of time."
Omi glared, ineffctively at his friend, and turned back to Ken-- whom was sitting quietly with his eyes glued to the table, and one hand tugging lightly on his silver earring. How was he supposed to share conversation or anything with a boy he couldn't understand? Ken didn't know anything in English, he might as well just go with Nagi. He shrugged.
"I'll see you around later, Ken." He slid the detention slip back to the brunett, and pulled Nagi up with him. They left the commons rather hurridly.
It was a minute or two until Ken realized that he had been left. Just as alone as ever, he sunk down further in his chair. What a lonely existance.
„Konnichiwa, Ken-kun." [trans: "Good afternoon, Ken."]A girl with dark hair, braided neatly into two plaits, sat suddenly in Omi's empty chair. It was the girl Omi had pointed out as Aya, earlier at breakfast.
„Konnichiwa..." He spoke, slightly startled at her sudden appearance. Her accent was not Japanese; it just was. Almost as if she didn't have one. He continued, this time in Japanese, "Who are you?"
"My name is Aya Fujimiya." She smiled, holding out her hand, not unlike the the senior, Youji, had earlier. She spoke in a amatuer form of Japanese, [2] obviously not from the country, but still somewhat understandable. She stood for a moment with her hand outstretched, as Ken just eyed it, warily. "It's an English custom. You shake my hand."
Her word ordering was wrong, and Ken could feel his head spin slightly. She used 'desu' at the end of everything, even the sentences that did not require it, and all of her other verbs at the very beginning. She was like one of those silly otaku fan-girls who worship anime and buy Japanese dictionaries to make their fanfiction seem more diverse. [3]
"It's nice to meet you." He responded in Japanese, noticing her pause to translate his words in her head, before she nodded. "I'm sorry I don't speak English; it would probably be easier for you. It is apparent you don't speak much Japanese."
"But more than anyone else around here!" Aya's smile faded slightly, before she shrugged, responding as good as she could, "I am trying."
"Are you taking a class on Japanese or something?"
"Um... No. They don't have any classes on that here. My family is from Japan, but I was born in America." She shrugged, "My elder brother speaks the language. Unfortunately, he's in an alternative school until Saturday. I'll be so happy when he gets back!" She chuckled, drifting off in thought, "You could talk to him, when he returns... Though he probably won't say anything back."
Ken took a moment to intake her barely understandable use of words, "Your elder brother is in an alternative school? What did he do?"
The dark-haired girl sighed, "He and the principal don't get a long too well. Quite honestly, I don't like him either. Though, Ran threatened to kill Mr. R Takatori, and... Well, you can guess what happened then, right?"
The brunett nodded, "Why did he do that? I would think it obvious that if you make such threats, you're likely to get yourself into trouble."
Aya shook her head, "He knew where he would end up; it isn't like this is his first visit. He's nineteen years old, and he should be off at the university-- everyone knows he's smart enough. But he keeps getting himself in trouble because of his stupid temper." She frowned, "I hate people with tempers! I absolutely can't stand it! It's like they get mad over every singl thing."
"Aa... I know what that's like." Ken nodded, "What about yourself? Why are you talking to me?"
"Oh! I just heard you were Japanese, and that you didn't speak much English. It must be tough being somewhere where no one understands your language." She smiled, "At least I can try."
Ken smiled, nodding lightly. "It's very nice to be able to speak to someone, Fujimiya-san. What class are you in?"
"Oh, you can call me Aya. And, I'm a freshman." She entwined her fingers in her lap, "Gods. You know that Omi kid, right? I saw him with you earlier. How do you stand him!? Ugh! He's so annoying!"
"I don't know. I think he's kind of nice--"
"Tch! Would you believe that he's gay!?"
Ken blinked.
"Yea, and so is his brother."
Another blink.
"I personally think it's disgusting. Guys should be with girls, and that's final." She shook her head, "So... Do you already have somebody?"
//What the fuck is she on about?!// Ken's brown eyes reduced to their normal size, and his cheeks glowed faintly with a blush. "Er, I don't--"
"Neither do I! Maybe--"
"Er... That's OK, I have... a long distance relationship... with someone." He stuttered, "And, I really have to go. I'lltalktoyoulater!" He ran out quickly, determined to avoid the Fujimiya girl from now on. And her brother whenever he got back.
Ken found himself hiding in the library, a rather massive building unto itself, until the bells rang for third period. He made his way quickly to room 559 in the English wing, for what would be his official introduction into the English language. It was the only room he had to find with difficulty, as it wasn't the second door on the right.
Within the room, the brunett found two people. The first was the darkhaired teacher from the evening before, Mr. Crawford, and the second was the redheaded senior from earlier. The two seemed to be in an argument.
"--don't even deserve my help, you bastard!"
"--don't need your -help-, but I would advise you to sit down before I hit you--"
"Damn, Brad. You really know how to turn a guy on--"
"Your job is simply to translate--"
"You think I speak Japanese--?!"
"In German, you fool. You can go back to slacking when Fujimiya gets back--!"
"O, Bradly! I never knew you had such confidence that I--"
"I don't, or I would be paying you--"
"Aw, c'mon, you know you don't have to -pay- me for -anything--"
"Sit down, Schuldig--"
"Why don't you make me--"
"Schuldig, I demand that you sit down this instant, and -stop- trying to act cute!" Mr. Crawford, or just 'Crawford' to most, looked about ready to murder. His glasses glinted manically in the light, and his breath was ragged with supressed rage.
"O! Does Bradly think I'm cute!?" The German sat, silently, keeping his jade eyes fixed on the teacher.
"I said 'trying' to act cute; failing miserably." The stoic math teacher spat.
"..." Schuldig rolled his eyes.
Crawford noticed Ken, suddenly, and regained his composure, beckoning the boy forward with his hand, to a seat. He gave Schuldig a side-long glance, "We'll continue this after the lesson."
The redhead laughed, "I look forward to it."
Ken sat in the desk on the first row, obviously the only student in need of learning basic English at the current moment. He glanced from Crawford, to Schuldig, both of which sat at seperate ends of the desk at the front of the room. //This is going to be weird...//
The lesson began. His first lesson covered the basics, most of which he already knew: Introductions, basic questions and phrases like, "Where's the restroom?", "Reapeat that again, please.", "I don't speak English.", and "Brad is such an asshol--" ("SCHULDIG!"), counting up until 'ten', and how to say "No". Very useful things.
The lesson wasn't bad, since he was the only student, and Crawford and Schuldig kept him entertained with their violent arguments, and the German's continuous teasing. He reluctantly left when the bell rang.
The rest of the day went by quickly. World History was a jumble of words he couldn't understand, and notes that he couldn't read (but he took them anyway). Discrete Maths and Analysis was a bit more simple, as it was mainly dealing with numbers, and he had already covered the lesson they were on before his move. Altogether, it was nothing, until detention.
He met in the Gym with several other students, including Youji and Schuldig, themselves, as he was told, after his last period. They all found seats on the bleachers as a young woman came in with a clipboard. She quickly counted who was here, and took a seat before them all.
"Well, all of you whom have been to guidance know that I am Ms. Ashwood. I'm the head counsellor, and I have been put in charge of detention today. I'm going to try to make this a good experience for us all, since we have to stay in here for a full hour." She smiled and looked around at each face before her. "We're going to start by introducing ourselves, then we're going to go around to each person and go over one fault we have, one good thing about ourselves, and why we are here in detention." Her gaze quickly landed on Ken, "Why don't you start us off?"
Ken blinked, "I don't speak English."
The counsellor laughed, her voice disbelieving, "Oh, I'm sure you don't. Now, please, introduce yourself."
The brunett looked over the Schuldig, „Bitte?" [trans: "Please?" or "Help?"]
"Just let the kid go to sleep. He's Japanese. He doesn't speak your language." Youji supplied, in place of the redhead, sending the German a scowl as he spoke.
The counsellor frowned, "Fine then. You start us off, Youji. Skip the intros, though, we already know who you are."
The blond stood up with a cocky smirk, "Well, a negative trait about this school would be that are dormitories are not co-ed--"
"A negative trait about yourself, Youji." The woman cut in.
"Me? Have any negative traits? Aa, c'mon, Ms. Ashwood... Or can I call you Barbra? You know I don't have any negative traits..."
Laying back, on the bleachers, Ken closed his eyes, blocking out the voices of the other students around him. Detention had been different in Japan...
* * * * *
"Ugh, Ken. What are you going in there for, this time?"
Ken stopped walking, looking at the voice's owner, "I... I just got into another fight."
"Ken..." There was a sigh, and a few heavy footsteps as the voice's body moved forward towards the brunett, "You've got such a horrible temper. What is this, lately? It's like suddenly I'm afraid to talk to you... I'm afraid you'll get angry with me. I'm afraid you already are."
The brown-eyed soccer player frowned, turned to face his companion fully. "I'm not angry with you... I just... I can't explain it." He adjusted his gaze to the floor.
"You can tell me anything, Ken. You can -trust- me. You know how I feel..." The figure reached out a hand, touching the brunett's face, softly.
Ken's breath grew shaky, "I can't..."
"...Ken?" The figure extended to arms, wrapping them around the soccer player with a gentleness he had never felt before.
All thoughts of actually attending his assigned detention left him in a moment. The brunett gave in, falling into the arms of his comforter, "Kase... I want to die."
* * * * *
When Ken awoke a few hours later, the lights were out, and everyone was gone. No one had woken him up at the end of detention. Though, it wasn't like he had expected them to.
His head spun with a sickening pace, and a cold sweat clung to his body, beneath his clothes and across his face. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to see that face, hear that voice, taste those lips...
He could feel his stomach clench up, sending a dull pain throughout his abdomen, as he moved to stand up. He ignored the feeling, grabbing his bag and making his way down the bleachers and through the gym with lazy steps. He stumbled on the steps up to his dorm room, and made his way hastily down the hallway. He reached the door, closing his eyes to the dull pain within him, and shoved his key in the lock, turning it quickly.
He halted, instantly as the door swung open. //That smell... So familiar...//
His eyes begged to open, but he squinted them shut, even tighter. //Gods. What -is- that...?// Finally, unable to place his sense of smell with a coherent word, he opened his eyes, stepping into the room.
As his eyes scanned the room, his mouth fell open, a silent scream ricocheting throughout his mind, but not to be released through his mouth. He stumbled back to the door frame and clutched it tightly. Of course he recognized that smell; he knew it so well.
Blood. Staining the bedsheets, staining the rug, covering the walls.
He felt his mind drifting, again. Remembering that which had happened not that long ago, and shook his head. The broken glass, the blood, the droplets of champagne that covered the floor...
Without a second thought, the Japanese boy turned and ran.
* * * * *
Notes--
[1] OK, this really isn't surprising, is it? It's seems like the first thing people want to know, when learning a new language, is the curse words. That is a real generalization, I am sure, but let's just count Ken as one of the majority here, ne?
[2] Okkei, I obviously can't keep typing and translating all of the dialogue in this fic, so when you see Ken speaking fluently, he's either speaking Japanese or German. Here, he and Aya-chan are having a conversation in Japanese; though Aya is not from Japan, and doesn't know how to speak correctly, so her language is rough. It is typed in English, but just know that it's Japanese, eh? ^^;;
[3] *Pokes herself* Sorry, I just thought that was kind of funny... ^_^ Don't hurt me? Bitte?
* * * * *
Thank you to my reviewers:
Laurel-Crowned- Thank you so much for your comments! They are very much appreciated! :) Yea, Farfie's art class would be awesome! I can't wait to get to that particular part of the story. Good ol' Farfie and his blood-painting.
Whisper Reilman- Yes, I feel sad for Ken, too. It kind of gets on my nerves though, that people who don't understand a language can come across as 'stupid' to the people that don't understand them, though. For some reason I don't want Ken to come across like that, so I'm beginning to feel -extremely- sorry for him, now. Yes, Ran-goodness will be here soon! Two chapters or three chapters, I believe. ^_^ Thank you for your review.
Redemption-Moon- Thanks! I like the "Yes!" thing, too. I'm very happy someone else found it humourous, though. :)
Fuyukaze-Yuki- Yea... They're brothers. I don't know why. They just are. Heh, heh. Yes, YoujixSchu is a pretty good pairing, but that won't be the way it ends. And RaRa is coming up soon, I garuntee it! Please be patient! ^_^
Lady Dragon- You've got the idea. All of your questions about Ran should be answered in the chapter, and the one about Ran being Ken's tutor is kind of vague, but it's in the conversation between Crawford and Schuldig. Turquoise isn't? I looked it up on some website, and they gave me three listings of three different brithstones for December, Zircon was one, Turquois was one, and then there was something else. I just chose the only one I recognised. I guess it's not really important, but thank you, anyway. ^^;;
Shinigami-chan- Aa! A newbie to Weiss, you say? That's great! I hope my characters will come across clearly to you; if something seems vague please tell me! I would really like to make this as clear and understandable as possible for people who have and haven't seen the series. I hope you enjoy the fic.
Minerva Solo- Yes, I see. I can imagine foreigners to the English language writing "sheet" as "shit" ... XD Ho-ho! That's a funny thought. Oh well, thank you for your comments. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.
* * * * *
Ran: You sent me to an alternative school?
Seph: RaRa's been a baaaad boy! ^_^
Ran: And what is -he- doing in here?
Seph: Who?
Ran: HIM?!
Seph: Kase?
Ran: What is he doing here? _
Seph: Comforting Ken in a time of need...?
Ran: I can't believe you...
Miri: Me neither. _
Ran: Stop sucking up.
Miri: Sorry. u_u
Seph: Don't hate me! You'll get here soon, RaRa. ^_^
Review Button: Clickity, Click, Click, Click me.
You guys are so great for reviewing my fic! Thank you so much; check the end of the chapter for responses! ^_^
Disclaimer-- The thought of me owning Weiss Kreuz makes me want to dance. I don't see me dancing anywhere, anytime soon. I also do not own "Somewhat Damaged" by NIN, nor do I own Trent Reznor or the band.
Warnings-- Language, Silliness, Shounen ai (mentions: SchuxBrad, NagixOmi, KasexKen), OOC (Aya-chan)
//blah// -- Thoughts (ex: //What should I say, now?//)
"blah" -- Dialogue (ex: "Your mom.")
„blah" -- Visably Foreign Dialogue (ex: „Wie ghet's?")
* * * * *
Somewhat Damaged * Seph Lorraine
Act I: Scene II: Detention
* * * * *
Omi had been correct about finding Ken's classes. All of his assigned rooms were always the second door on the right of the hall in which those particular types classes were held (English wing, Maths wing, Foreign Language wing, etc). A very easy schedule, but difficult to make his way to the correct building, through entire mobs of students, and to his classes on time.
Religion and Economics had meant nothing to Ken. The teacher, even though he was obviously of Japanese origin, himself, knew of no ways to communicate with the brunett, and ended up just ignoring him. Ken had thought he caught a string of English curses (all of which he understood, of course) [1] and some foreign words like "I'm not paid enough for this." Though, he simply chose to ignore them.
There were very few things during the class that he could understand. The students appeared to be learning about the Buddhist religion at the moment, as Ken saw in the large pictures that seem to litter the pages of the present chapter in his textbook. He wasn't Buddhist, but he already knew a lot about the particular religion, as many of the people he had once known had been.
//Except for him. He always thought religion was a lot of nonsense...//
The brunett snapped out of it, shaking his head quickly. He couldn't risk thinking of such things during a class.
There was a light giggling from the behind him, and the Japanese boy, peeked behind him at a group of girls sitting diagonally behind him. Two blonds and a redhead, with their jackets off and white sleeves, rolled up to three-quarters length. The redhead was busy writing, "Becca + Todd = 4EvEr!" and an assortment of hearts, in white out pen on the front of a mahogany binder. The two blonds, though, had their attention locked on him.
He was beginning to turn back to the front of the room when the girl whispered something, he couldn't understand. She gave him a seductive smile as the words rolled from her cherry-red lips, "You don't speak much English, do you?"
Her accent was somewhat flat, with a bit of a drawl. It was one that he had associated with the southern United States, having once had a foreign teacher from the state of Georgia, teaching him German in his previous school years. He blinked as she said the words, his mind picking at the pieces of the sentence, and tackling words he understood: 'You', 'English', and 'you' being the only ones known to him. That didn't help him very much.
His mind struggled, looking for an answer to the question she had asked, and his mind undoubtedly came up with the only answer possible. He smiled brightly, "Yes!"
The two blonds burst into giggles, and the redhead looked up, rolling her eyes and blowing a large pink bubble with her gum.
"Oh really?" The second blond spoke, her voice tainted by that same accent.
"You'll have to come talk with us sometime..." The first smiled, "You can meet my boyfriend-- he just loves to beat foreigners."
They both began to giggle, and the redhead shared a light chuckle, before turning back to her drawing.
Ken searched for something to say in response, still not understanding what was being spoken to him, "I am no understanding your say." He managed to get the words out, wondering if anything out of his mouth had just made sense to them; it had meant nothing to him.
The redhead smiled, looking up at the Japanese boy again, "Konnichiwa, baka." [trans: "Good afternoon, idiot."] She spoke in an American accent slightly different to the two blonds, but her voice made the words sound ugly... And they were.
The brunett understood what their meaning towards him was, now. He put on a smug smile, and spoke simply, „Busu teme yarukika. Shitsukoi naa." [trans: "Are you trying to piss me off, bitch? That's annoying."]
The three girls blinked, as well as the rest of the class, now caught up in observing this interaction. No one had heard the new-kid say hardly anything; and even though they couldn't understand what he said, his physical appearance and tone of voice gave it away, fully, that he was angry. His left eyebrow seemed to be twitching lightly, and his teeth and hands were clenched. He was almost ripping the silver earring out of his own ear.
"Mr. Hidaka!"
Ken turned to look at the frowning face of Mr. S Takatori (he wondered about that 'S'), only to be handed a small pink slip, with some scratchy inillegible writing. "Nan des--er--What?"
"Detention." The teacher spoke, "For disrupting my class."
Detention, as Ken knew it, was a universal word, with a universal meaning; nevermind that he didn't comprehend exactly why he had gotten it. His jaw dropped, and he practically began to seethe in anger, „Demo..!" [trans: "But...!"] He pointed at the girls, all three of which were now twirling pencils, their noses stuck into textbooks.
Ken now loathed his first period class.
Ms. Manx, or just "Manx", as the students called her, was a pretty odd woman. She had very nice hair, though. AP German III was, seemingly, behind him in his studies of the language. Though, it was not surprising, as he had been taking the language since his third school year in Japan.
His class was the kind that never paid attention, and therefor, Manx seemed to have given up on the task of teaching long ago. //Great... I've gotten detention on the first day. So my chi is trying to make it up to me by giving me a nap period? Joy.//
The tower bells had rung quite loudly at the end of second period, signaling lunch-break to one third of the school's population. Hundreds of students pushed their way through the doorways into the commons, and various other places around campus, to either their third period or lunch. Omi had told the brunett earlier that they shared the same lunch period, so the Japanese boy wasn't surprised to see the blond at the same table waving him over as he had earlier that morning.
This time, though, there was someone else at the table. A brown-haired freshman with large eyes, quite like Omi.
Ken made his way to the table, stumbling only lightly over a chair leg or two on his way, and semi-bowed before taking a seat. "Good afternoon, Omi."
Omi smiled brightly and nodded, "Yea. How was your first day here?"
The brunett was quickly adapting to the knowledge that he would never, no matter how hard he tried, understand what Omi was saying to him. Instead, he just pulled out his detention slip from earlier. Maybe that would answer his question.
Two large blue eyes became even larger as they scanned the pink slip, "Damn, Ken! How did you managed that!? Detention on your first day!?" Just before he was about to leave Ken with a question he would not be able to answer, he remembered the small brunett sitting beside him. "Oh, yea! Ken, this is Nagi!"
The Japanese boy turned to the small brunett and nodded, "It is nice to meet you, Nagi."
"You're Ken?" The freshman disregarded the greeting, and stared at the sophmore with examining eyes. "I have heard that you don't speak any English. Is that correct?"
"Ano..." Ken blinked. The kid was asking him something.
Omi hit the smaller brunett quickly, "How do you expect him to answer if he didn't understand what it was you just said?"
"His silence will suffice." Nagi's eyes blinked with apathy, and he turned to his blond friend, smiling a bit, "What about you and me in the locker room?"
The blond made a small squeaking noise and frowned, "Not right now, Nagi!"
"C'mon! No one will be in there. We'll have plenty of time."
Omi glared, ineffctively at his friend, and turned back to Ken-- whom was sitting quietly with his eyes glued to the table, and one hand tugging lightly on his silver earring. How was he supposed to share conversation or anything with a boy he couldn't understand? Ken didn't know anything in English, he might as well just go with Nagi. He shrugged.
"I'll see you around later, Ken." He slid the detention slip back to the brunett, and pulled Nagi up with him. They left the commons rather hurridly.
It was a minute or two until Ken realized that he had been left. Just as alone as ever, he sunk down further in his chair. What a lonely existance.
„Konnichiwa, Ken-kun." [trans: "Good afternoon, Ken."]A girl with dark hair, braided neatly into two plaits, sat suddenly in Omi's empty chair. It was the girl Omi had pointed out as Aya, earlier at breakfast.
„Konnichiwa..." He spoke, slightly startled at her sudden appearance. Her accent was not Japanese; it just was. Almost as if she didn't have one. He continued, this time in Japanese, "Who are you?"
"My name is Aya Fujimiya." She smiled, holding out her hand, not unlike the the senior, Youji, had earlier. She spoke in a amatuer form of Japanese, [2] obviously not from the country, but still somewhat understandable. She stood for a moment with her hand outstretched, as Ken just eyed it, warily. "It's an English custom. You shake my hand."
Her word ordering was wrong, and Ken could feel his head spin slightly. She used 'desu' at the end of everything, even the sentences that did not require it, and all of her other verbs at the very beginning. She was like one of those silly otaku fan-girls who worship anime and buy Japanese dictionaries to make their fanfiction seem more diverse. [3]
"It's nice to meet you." He responded in Japanese, noticing her pause to translate his words in her head, before she nodded. "I'm sorry I don't speak English; it would probably be easier for you. It is apparent you don't speak much Japanese."
"But more than anyone else around here!" Aya's smile faded slightly, before she shrugged, responding as good as she could, "I am trying."
"Are you taking a class on Japanese or something?"
"Um... No. They don't have any classes on that here. My family is from Japan, but I was born in America." She shrugged, "My elder brother speaks the language. Unfortunately, he's in an alternative school until Saturday. I'll be so happy when he gets back!" She chuckled, drifting off in thought, "You could talk to him, when he returns... Though he probably won't say anything back."
Ken took a moment to intake her barely understandable use of words, "Your elder brother is in an alternative school? What did he do?"
The dark-haired girl sighed, "He and the principal don't get a long too well. Quite honestly, I don't like him either. Though, Ran threatened to kill Mr. R Takatori, and... Well, you can guess what happened then, right?"
The brunett nodded, "Why did he do that? I would think it obvious that if you make such threats, you're likely to get yourself into trouble."
Aya shook her head, "He knew where he would end up; it isn't like this is his first visit. He's nineteen years old, and he should be off at the university-- everyone knows he's smart enough. But he keeps getting himself in trouble because of his stupid temper." She frowned, "I hate people with tempers! I absolutely can't stand it! It's like they get mad over every singl thing."
"Aa... I know what that's like." Ken nodded, "What about yourself? Why are you talking to me?"
"Oh! I just heard you were Japanese, and that you didn't speak much English. It must be tough being somewhere where no one understands your language." She smiled, "At least I can try."
Ken smiled, nodding lightly. "It's very nice to be able to speak to someone, Fujimiya-san. What class are you in?"
"Oh, you can call me Aya. And, I'm a freshman." She entwined her fingers in her lap, "Gods. You know that Omi kid, right? I saw him with you earlier. How do you stand him!? Ugh! He's so annoying!"
"I don't know. I think he's kind of nice--"
"Tch! Would you believe that he's gay!?"
Ken blinked.
"Yea, and so is his brother."
Another blink.
"I personally think it's disgusting. Guys should be with girls, and that's final." She shook her head, "So... Do you already have somebody?"
//What the fuck is she on about?!// Ken's brown eyes reduced to their normal size, and his cheeks glowed faintly with a blush. "Er, I don't--"
"Neither do I! Maybe--"
"Er... That's OK, I have... a long distance relationship... with someone." He stuttered, "And, I really have to go. I'lltalktoyoulater!" He ran out quickly, determined to avoid the Fujimiya girl from now on. And her brother whenever he got back.
Ken found himself hiding in the library, a rather massive building unto itself, until the bells rang for third period. He made his way quickly to room 559 in the English wing, for what would be his official introduction into the English language. It was the only room he had to find with difficulty, as it wasn't the second door on the right.
Within the room, the brunett found two people. The first was the darkhaired teacher from the evening before, Mr. Crawford, and the second was the redheaded senior from earlier. The two seemed to be in an argument.
"--don't even deserve my help, you bastard!"
"--don't need your -help-, but I would advise you to sit down before I hit you--"
"Damn, Brad. You really know how to turn a guy on--"
"Your job is simply to translate--"
"You think I speak Japanese--?!"
"In German, you fool. You can go back to slacking when Fujimiya gets back--!"
"O, Bradly! I never knew you had such confidence that I--"
"I don't, or I would be paying you--"
"Aw, c'mon, you know you don't have to -pay- me for -anything--"
"Sit down, Schuldig--"
"Why don't you make me--"
"Schuldig, I demand that you sit down this instant, and -stop- trying to act cute!" Mr. Crawford, or just 'Crawford' to most, looked about ready to murder. His glasses glinted manically in the light, and his breath was ragged with supressed rage.
"O! Does Bradly think I'm cute!?" The German sat, silently, keeping his jade eyes fixed on the teacher.
"I said 'trying' to act cute; failing miserably." The stoic math teacher spat.
"..." Schuldig rolled his eyes.
Crawford noticed Ken, suddenly, and regained his composure, beckoning the boy forward with his hand, to a seat. He gave Schuldig a side-long glance, "We'll continue this after the lesson."
The redhead laughed, "I look forward to it."
Ken sat in the desk on the first row, obviously the only student in need of learning basic English at the current moment. He glanced from Crawford, to Schuldig, both of which sat at seperate ends of the desk at the front of the room. //This is going to be weird...//
The lesson began. His first lesson covered the basics, most of which he already knew: Introductions, basic questions and phrases like, "Where's the restroom?", "Reapeat that again, please.", "I don't speak English.", and "Brad is such an asshol--" ("SCHULDIG!"), counting up until 'ten', and how to say "No". Very useful things.
The lesson wasn't bad, since he was the only student, and Crawford and Schuldig kept him entertained with their violent arguments, and the German's continuous teasing. He reluctantly left when the bell rang.
The rest of the day went by quickly. World History was a jumble of words he couldn't understand, and notes that he couldn't read (but he took them anyway). Discrete Maths and Analysis was a bit more simple, as it was mainly dealing with numbers, and he had already covered the lesson they were on before his move. Altogether, it was nothing, until detention.
He met in the Gym with several other students, including Youji and Schuldig, themselves, as he was told, after his last period. They all found seats on the bleachers as a young woman came in with a clipboard. She quickly counted who was here, and took a seat before them all.
"Well, all of you whom have been to guidance know that I am Ms. Ashwood. I'm the head counsellor, and I have been put in charge of detention today. I'm going to try to make this a good experience for us all, since we have to stay in here for a full hour." She smiled and looked around at each face before her. "We're going to start by introducing ourselves, then we're going to go around to each person and go over one fault we have, one good thing about ourselves, and why we are here in detention." Her gaze quickly landed on Ken, "Why don't you start us off?"
Ken blinked, "I don't speak English."
The counsellor laughed, her voice disbelieving, "Oh, I'm sure you don't. Now, please, introduce yourself."
The brunett looked over the Schuldig, „Bitte?" [trans: "Please?" or "Help?"]
"Just let the kid go to sleep. He's Japanese. He doesn't speak your language." Youji supplied, in place of the redhead, sending the German a scowl as he spoke.
The counsellor frowned, "Fine then. You start us off, Youji. Skip the intros, though, we already know who you are."
The blond stood up with a cocky smirk, "Well, a negative trait about this school would be that are dormitories are not co-ed--"
"A negative trait about yourself, Youji." The woman cut in.
"Me? Have any negative traits? Aa, c'mon, Ms. Ashwood... Or can I call you Barbra? You know I don't have any negative traits..."
Laying back, on the bleachers, Ken closed his eyes, blocking out the voices of the other students around him. Detention had been different in Japan...
* * * * *
"Ugh, Ken. What are you going in there for, this time?"
Ken stopped walking, looking at the voice's owner, "I... I just got into another fight."
"Ken..." There was a sigh, and a few heavy footsteps as the voice's body moved forward towards the brunett, "You've got such a horrible temper. What is this, lately? It's like suddenly I'm afraid to talk to you... I'm afraid you'll get angry with me. I'm afraid you already are."
The brown-eyed soccer player frowned, turned to face his companion fully. "I'm not angry with you... I just... I can't explain it." He adjusted his gaze to the floor.
"You can tell me anything, Ken. You can -trust- me. You know how I feel..." The figure reached out a hand, touching the brunett's face, softly.
Ken's breath grew shaky, "I can't..."
"...Ken?" The figure extended to arms, wrapping them around the soccer player with a gentleness he had never felt before.
All thoughts of actually attending his assigned detention left him in a moment. The brunett gave in, falling into the arms of his comforter, "Kase... I want to die."
* * * * *
When Ken awoke a few hours later, the lights were out, and everyone was gone. No one had woken him up at the end of detention. Though, it wasn't like he had expected them to.
His head spun with a sickening pace, and a cold sweat clung to his body, beneath his clothes and across his face. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to see that face, hear that voice, taste those lips...
He could feel his stomach clench up, sending a dull pain throughout his abdomen, as he moved to stand up. He ignored the feeling, grabbing his bag and making his way down the bleachers and through the gym with lazy steps. He stumbled on the steps up to his dorm room, and made his way hastily down the hallway. He reached the door, closing his eyes to the dull pain within him, and shoved his key in the lock, turning it quickly.
He halted, instantly as the door swung open. //That smell... So familiar...//
His eyes begged to open, but he squinted them shut, even tighter. //Gods. What -is- that...?// Finally, unable to place his sense of smell with a coherent word, he opened his eyes, stepping into the room.
As his eyes scanned the room, his mouth fell open, a silent scream ricocheting throughout his mind, but not to be released through his mouth. He stumbled back to the door frame and clutched it tightly. Of course he recognized that smell; he knew it so well.
Blood. Staining the bedsheets, staining the rug, covering the walls.
He felt his mind drifting, again. Remembering that which had happened not that long ago, and shook his head. The broken glass, the blood, the droplets of champagne that covered the floor...
Without a second thought, the Japanese boy turned and ran.
* * * * *
Notes--
[1] OK, this really isn't surprising, is it? It's seems like the first thing people want to know, when learning a new language, is the curse words. That is a real generalization, I am sure, but let's just count Ken as one of the majority here, ne?
[2] Okkei, I obviously can't keep typing and translating all of the dialogue in this fic, so when you see Ken speaking fluently, he's either speaking Japanese or German. Here, he and Aya-chan are having a conversation in Japanese; though Aya is not from Japan, and doesn't know how to speak correctly, so her language is rough. It is typed in English, but just know that it's Japanese, eh? ^^;;
[3] *Pokes herself* Sorry, I just thought that was kind of funny... ^_^ Don't hurt me? Bitte?
* * * * *
Thank you to my reviewers:
Laurel-Crowned- Thank you so much for your comments! They are very much appreciated! :) Yea, Farfie's art class would be awesome! I can't wait to get to that particular part of the story. Good ol' Farfie and his blood-painting.
Whisper Reilman- Yes, I feel sad for Ken, too. It kind of gets on my nerves though, that people who don't understand a language can come across as 'stupid' to the people that don't understand them, though. For some reason I don't want Ken to come across like that, so I'm beginning to feel -extremely- sorry for him, now. Yes, Ran-goodness will be here soon! Two chapters or three chapters, I believe. ^_^ Thank you for your review.
Redemption-Moon- Thanks! I like the "Yes!" thing, too. I'm very happy someone else found it humourous, though. :)
Fuyukaze-Yuki- Yea... They're brothers. I don't know why. They just are. Heh, heh. Yes, YoujixSchu is a pretty good pairing, but that won't be the way it ends. And RaRa is coming up soon, I garuntee it! Please be patient! ^_^
Lady Dragon- You've got the idea. All of your questions about Ran should be answered in the chapter, and the one about Ran being Ken's tutor is kind of vague, but it's in the conversation between Crawford and Schuldig. Turquoise isn't? I looked it up on some website, and they gave me three listings of three different brithstones for December, Zircon was one, Turquois was one, and then there was something else. I just chose the only one I recognised. I guess it's not really important, but thank you, anyway. ^^;;
Shinigami-chan- Aa! A newbie to Weiss, you say? That's great! I hope my characters will come across clearly to you; if something seems vague please tell me! I would really like to make this as clear and understandable as possible for people who have and haven't seen the series. I hope you enjoy the fic.
Minerva Solo- Yes, I see. I can imagine foreigners to the English language writing "sheet" as "shit" ... XD Ho-ho! That's a funny thought. Oh well, thank you for your comments. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.
* * * * *
Ran: You sent me to an alternative school?
Seph: RaRa's been a baaaad boy! ^_^
Ran: And what is -he- doing in here?
Seph: Who?
Ran: HIM?!
Seph: Kase?
Ran: What is he doing here? _
Seph: Comforting Ken in a time of need...?
Ran: I can't believe you...
Miri: Me neither. _
Ran: Stop sucking up.
Miri: Sorry. u_u
Seph: Don't hate me! You'll get here soon, RaRa. ^_^
Review Button: Clickity, Click, Click, Click me.